Long title, short ingredient list, full belly. Mama like.
Quickie side note: Happy Back to the Future Day! By this time tomorrow everything that happened in the Back to the Future movies will be referencing our past. We old AF. I'd like a hoverboard to Marty McFly back to yesteryear.

Now Back to the Recipe: this dish is the shiz. I'm already a tinge uhbsessed with spaghetti squash but I'm not going to lie, it took some convincing at first. Pasta is reaaall hard to replace because, pasta. So I'm not gonna tout this as a replacement... but just as an alternative that promises a flavor punch.

My friend Missy first turned me onto the simplicity of spaghetti squash after a late night leaving the office that was still requiring a grocery store stop. I typically bother ask my coworkers what they're making for dinner in hopes of sparking some inspiration... however normally at 6pm just about everything sounds good and I have no internal compass. I decided to finally give her idea a try and made a super simple bolognese to go with the fauxghetti. My tastebuds - as well as the hub's - were all woah. Just enough texture and real spaghetti-like strands... this was the start of something good.

I first came upon this pistachio pesto recipe and fell in love with the flavors, but really wanted to lighten it up. Most pestos are made up of four simple elements: nuts, herbs, cheese and oil. The most traditional combo is pine nuts + basil + parmesan + olive oil... howevs you can easily switch up any of these four elements to make something of your own. I had a freakout when I figured out you can replace the oil with avocado - that was a game changer.

So hold onto your hats... where we're going, we don't need roads. We just need squash. And pesto. And self-tying shoelaces.

Prep + roast squash: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice your spaghetti squash in half lengthwise (you can watch this easy tutorial here) and using a soup spoon, scoop out the seeds and any slimy strings from the middle, and discard. Place two halves on a cooking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Turn cut-side down onto sheet pan and roast for 30 minutes. Remove to cool.

Brown sausages: In a medium nonstick skillet, heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Snip the edges of each sausage link and remove (squish out) the ground meat from their casings into heated pan. If using spicy/flavored sausages, there's no need to season. If you're substituting ground meat, season well with salt and pepper. Using wooden spoon, break up meat into bite-sized pieces and cook until meat is no longer pink. Once cooked, use a slotted spoon to remove ground meat from pan and place onto plate covered with two paper towels to drain extra oil. Place into large bowl.

Make pesto: Combine chopped basil, pistachios, cheese, and a pinch each of salt and pepper in a food processor and blend until well nuts are well chopped. Add avocado and blend until smooth. If pesto is too thick, add 1 tbs. of water and blend. Continue thinning with water by the tbs. if needed.

Shred squash and combine: Once your squash halves have cooled enough to handle, take a fork and run in it lengthwise to loosen up "pasta" strands. Add squash strands into bowl with sausage. Add in pesto and toss with tongs to coat. Add in goat cheese crumbles on top. Enjoy!

If you make this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment, let me know what you think + be sure to tag any pictures with @TheSavvySpoon + #TheSavvySpoonon Instagram!